Safe and Sound
by Jareth7GoblinKing
Summary: What if it was Katniss that was taken by the Capital and hijacked instead of Peeta? This is an one-shot dealing with such. Katniss sort of remembers Finnick and Annie. For no reason she is happy about them getting married. She decides to honor their marriage with a song.


**I took a break from writing Labyrinth fanfiction. This is what I think would maybe happen if it was Katniss who was taken by the Capital and hijacked. **

**The characters and the Hunger Games belong to Suzanne Collins. The song used in this story to Taylor Swift.**

* * *

They ask me if I remember Finnick and Annie. I did though it wasn't much. It was his fault that Peeta, the mutt, was still alive. I assume he didn't know what he was then. They told me that they were getting married. I don't know why but something about it made me happy.

I ask Greasy Sae if I could sing for them, to honor their wedding. She smiles, "I don't see why not."

That day they fix me up in a nice orange sunset like dress. The dress I wore when they took me from the Capital. As they did so I realize I am to sing to a camera. I hate cameras. They make people act differently when on them. However, Greasy Sae told me that it was the best way to sing for them at their wedding. I nod not caring to know why this is the best way. I have a song in mind. It was something I had heard long ago. My father sang it to my mom but never to Prim and me. I would fall asleep listening to the sound of his voice. It was such a beautiful lullaby.

I took a deep breath and close my eyes remembering the words as if it was yesterday. Then open them and begin:

_I remember tears streaming down  
your face when I said I'll never let you go  
when all those shadows almost killed your light_

_I remember you said don't leave me here alone  
But all that's dead and gone and past tonight_

Just close your eyes  
the sun is going down,  
you'll be alright  
No one can hurt you now  
come morning light  
you and I will be safe and sound

_So today look out your window  
Darling, everything's on fire  
War outside our door keeps ranging on  
Hold on to this lullaby even when the music gone._

_Just close your eyes  
the sun is going down  
you'll be alright.  
No one can hurt you now  
come morning light  
you and I will be safe and sound._

_Just close your eyes  
you'll be all right  
come morning light  
you and I will be safe and sound _

I smile at the camera and congratulate Finnick and Annie for their wedding.

xxxx

I watch as they made the hall darker to show a special wedding present. I assume it is some type of promo like this in away was but first the screen was dark. Then slowly light began to emerge like a coming morning light.

Then suddenly she stands wearing a simple orange dress. I sit transfix by her. Her eyes are closed but slowly open as she begins to sing. As she does so the whole room went quite. This isn't the fearsome thing that attempted to kill me every time she saw me or heard mentioned.

I glimpse over at Gale, at Prim, at her mother. They too seem shock by the appearance of a normal sounding Katniss. Tears stream down the face of her mother. All of this speaks of great volumes that Haymitch is keeping from us. The girl I saw last was screaming and trying to escape. This was purely beautiful as was she.

Though part of me believes that there is some hidden message in the song I reason with myself that there isn't. She want's nothing to do with me, with us. We are traitors, mutts, and enemies in her mind. I feel Haymitch sit beside me as the song finishes with a smiling Katniss. She looks honestly pleased with Finnick and Annie's marriage.

"Let's you and me have a talk," he says.

Out in the hall, away from the cameras, I turn to him, "What's happening to her?"

Haymitch only shakes his head. "I don't know. None of us do. Sometimes she is like her old self and then suddenly she goes off again. But when she sings, at first it was slight humming, then it grew and slowly she emerged."

"Have you talked to her?" I ask.

He nod slowly, "She was really angry at me but for the right reasons. She yelled at me for quite some time but it was mostly normal." Haymitch pauses a moment, as if deciding something, "She says she'd like to see you."

I froze. I never expected this. I wished it wanting it but knew it would be Gale in the end not me. Never did I believe I would hear the words _She says she'd like to see you._ I won't refuse.

As the festivities end I prepare myself to see her. I had time to prepare as I wait for Plutarch to finish up getting his wedding footage. He didn't dream of having anything so razzle-dazzle as he did. None of us did. He decides that Katniss' song might cause more reaction than ever. "The best thing about the Capital basically ignoring Twelve all these years is that you all have a little spontaneity. The audience will eat this up! Like when you announced you were in love with Katniss or her little trick with the berries!"

Though I am thrilled that he is happy with what he has I can only think of meeting with Katniss. I won't meet with her privately but with an audience of doctors on the other side of the one-way glass, taking notes. When Haymitch gives the okay in my earpiece, I slowly open the door.

Her eyes lock on to me instantly. I feel like I am prey to the hunter even though she's got four restraints on each arm, and a tube that can knock her out if she loses control. She doesn't fight as I approach, only watches me with that wary look of someone who still hasn't ruled out she's in the presence of a mutt. I am beside the bed but still a bit of a distance away so I am not tempted to touch her hand. My hands stay at my side when I speak. "Hey."

"Hey," she responds. It's like her voice, almost, there is something else there. I know it is distrust and suspicion. Her eyes slowly scan my body no doubt looking for my weak points.

Feeling suddenly expose I say, "Haymitch said you wanted to talk to me."

Her eyes fix on mine, "Look at you more like it." It's as if she is waiting for me to suddenly transform into some terrible beast. I begin to say something when she speaks first. "You are not as big as I thought, are you? Or particularly handsome?"

I raise an eyebrow at that. She doesn't look like herself either, "You've looked better too you know."

I hear Haymitch start but it is interrupted by Katniss' laugh. "I thought you were the one who was known for being nice. Or the one who had a way with words seems like you really don't."

I chuckle feeling like I should have done something better. "I heard your song for Finnick and Annie. I never heard it before."

She shrugs. "My father sung it to my mom."

Again I reach a point not knowing where to go then the memory of the cave watches over me, "Your dad had voice that could charm even the birds from the trees. You do too. Everyone was silenced by your voice like I was back when we were five."

She nods, "You are talking about the cave," my eyes widen that she remembers it but then she adds, "They showed me it. You said that's when you fell in love with me. You loved me, didn't you?" She is watching me even more carefully.

"I did." My voice catches and I pretend to cough. I have tried to convince myself that she was gone but I'm wrong. I still am very much so.

"There's a lot of kissing which seems genuine on your part but not mine. I didn't return your love, did I?" her voice is cold and calculating.

I keep my eyes on the wall behind her, "You loved me in your own way."

"That's not really an answer." She tells me.

"You never really gave me an answer if you did or not. We were friends." I knew that was safe. Her cool gray eyes watch me carefully.

"You know how to lie well, how to get people to feel pain with just your words. I don't see how we could have been friends. I know I am with Gale. I've kissed him too you know." She says coldly and a bit playfully like a kitten with a trapped mouse.

"I know." I say shortly. I'm done here. I turn to leave.

"Peeta," her voice stops me at the door, "I remember the bread."

The bread, of course she remembers. She always thought of it. She told me so. It was our one moment of real connection before all of this.

"Do you remember that from the video of the cave too?" I say. My voice sounds hallow.

"No. I remembered it before that," she says softly, "I remember digging in your trash bins. Your mother yelling first at me then you as you burnt it. Seeing her hit you. Then taking it out to the pig but throwing it at me."

I nod, "That's it. I tried to catch your eye after school…"

"But I looked away and picked up a..."

"A dandelion." I nod. She never spoke of that moment but I too remember it.

She watches me for a while. I couldn't leave after that. "They told me you burnt down District Twelve for me."

"I didn't. That was the Capital." I say.

Her eyes went darker as the pupils dilate. Then slowly her body starts trembling and shaking. Despite Haymitch's voice telling me to leave, I go closer to her. I suddenly grab her hand hard, to the point of hurting when her eyes focus back on me. The tube is slowly pumping out something to knock her out.

I feel her squeeze my hand in return. At first I thought it was in attack but her voice shakes as she speaks, "Don't leave me alone. Stay with me to keep me safe and sound."

As her grasp loosens and she loses consciousness I whisper to her, "Always."


End file.
